The national team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the Asian Cup, despite being one of the oldest national teams in Asia[1] and has been playing at the international level as early as 1913.[2] The national team's best finish in a major tournament was at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup where they finished second after losing to Palestine in the finals.

The Philippines participated at the Far Eastern Championship Games, which included football. The first edition was in 1913 and the last was in 1934. The games were the first regional football tournament for national teams outside Britain. The national team routinely faced Japan and China and at one edition the Dutch East Indies at the games. The Philippines won over China at the inaugural tournament with the scoreline of 2–1. At the 1917 edition, the Philippine team achieved its biggest win in international football to date against Japan with the scoreline of 15–2 with the help of Paulino Alcantara.[2][3][4]

In the 1950s the Philippines hosted friendlies with international based side, However the national team experienced lack of funding and barely received any coverage from the media. During that time talents from the national team were drawn from the Manila Football League which received substantial support from the Chinese-Filipino community. The national team's decent performance at the 1958 Asian Games, hosted in Tokyo, where they defeated Japan, 1–0 in a game which was labeled as an upset by the Japanese press.[7]

After 1958, saw the decline of Philippine football, several key players resigned from the national team due to financial challenges for playing for the national team. National team players Ed Ocampo and Eduardo Pacheco switched to basketball, and went on playing for commercial basketball clubs where players are paid. The local talent pool of the national team saw some setbacks due to poor decision by Philippine football officials. During the term of Philippine Football Association (PFA) president, Don Manolo Elizalde, which lasted from 1966 to 1974, Fernando Alvarez was appointed by the football body as secretary general. Alvarez enacted the 60-40 rule over all teams in leagues under the PFA meaning that 60 percent of teams' roster must be composed of Filipinos and 40 percent Chinese. Sponsors withdrew and leagues, which were mostly funded by the Chinese-Filipino community started to decline. The 60-40 rule was lifted much later under president Johnny Romualdez of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), after 1982 when the PFA has reorganized itself as the PFF.[7][8]

The national team suffered defeats with big margins at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta.[7] This includes the national team's record 15-1 defeat to Malaysia, which became the worst defeat of the national team at that time. The record was later broken by the 15-0 lose to Japan in 1967 at the qualifiers for the 1968 Summer Olympics. Foreigners were hired to serve as head coaches for the national team in an attempt to reduce big margin loses. Englishman, Allan Rogers was hired following the record defeat to Malaysia and Spaniard Juan Cutillas was likewise tasked to lead the national team following the record defeat to Japan.[9]

In the early sixties, the Philippine Football Association partnered with the San Miguel Corporation to seek foreign assistance to train local football players and coaches and to develop the sport in the country. Coaches from the United Kingdom, Alan Rogers and Brian Birch. After the two were relieved, Danny McClellan and Graham Adams continued their task. In 1961, San Miguel through the national football association bought in four medical students from Spain who were expert in football — Francisco Escarte, Enrique dela Mata, Claudio Sanchez and Juan Cutillas. Escarte and dela Mata left the country after one year.[10]

In 1971, head coach Juan Cutillas recruited five foreign players to play for the national team; four Spaniards and one Chinese. The national team joined several international competitions such as the Merdeka Tournament, Jakarta Anniversary Tournament and the President Park Tournament. The team caused some upset results against the national teams of Thailand, Singapore and South Korea. The national team saw another decline after the four Spanish players left the team due to financial reasons and basketball gains more foothold over football in the country.[10]

The national team under German head coach, Eckhard Krautzun finished fourth overall at the 1991 Southeast Asian Games, its best ever finish at the tournament. The Philippines dealt a 1-0 defeat to defending champions Malaysia at the tournament which knocked out the latter out of the tournament at just the group stage. Norman Fegidero scored the sole goal for the Philippines.[9][11][12]

In September 2006, the country fell to 195th on the FIFA World Rankings, its lowest ever.[13] By the end of the year, the Philippines moved back up to 171st overall, after a good run in the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship qualification.[14] They were able to win three games in a row which was a first for the Philippines and thus qualifying for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship.[15] Coach at that time Aris Caslib, aimed to reach the semifinals with two wins at the group stage.[16] The decision came despite Philippine Football Federation president Juan Miguel Romualdez stating that they would still be underdogs in the tournament and that they mustn't raise their expectations too high,[14] as the Philippines have only won their first ever win of the tournament during the 2004 edition.[17]

The Philippines eventually failed to reach their target, only getting a draw in three matches. Their poor performances led to Caslib's resignation,[18] as well as the refusal of the PFF to register and enter the qualification stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[19] They would be one of four nations, all from Southeast Asia not to enter after a record number of entries.[20] However it was revealed that the decision not to enter the 2010 as well as the 2006 World Cup qualification was made during the PFF presidency of Rene Adad, whose term ended in 2003.[19] Instead, the PFF wanted to focus on domestic and regional competitions.[21]

Dan Palami, businessman and sports patron, was appointed as team manager of the national team in 2009 by the Philippine Football Federation. The national team still receive minimal support from the government. Palami made financial investments to the team using his own personal money. Since taking responsibility over the national team, he has envisioned a plan named Project 100, which plans to make the team among the top 100 national teams in the world in terms of FIFA rankings. More foreign-born Filipinos were called up to play for the national squad.[24]

In 2010, they qualified for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, where they stayed undefeated in the group stage against powerhouses nations and also went on to beat defending champions Vietnam, in a match considered as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.[25] Their win against Vietnam, also referred by local Filipino fans as the "Miracle of Hanoi", was considered as the match that started a football renaissance in the country where basketball is the more popular sport.[26][27] The team reached the knockout stage for the first time but played all their games in Jakarta due to the unavailability of a stadium that passes AFF standards, eventually losing to Indonesia in the semifinals. The Philippines was the first and, as of now, only team that made to the AFF Semi-Finals that went through the qualification. In 2011, the Philippines qualified for the AFC Challenge Cup for the first time since qualifiers were introduced in the tournament.

On July 3, 2011, the Philippines recorded their first ever victory in FIFA World Cup qualification, beating Sri Lanka 4–0 in the second leg of the first preliminary round. They advanced 5–1 on aggregate, drawing 1–1 in the first leg before winning at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.[28] The Philippines advanced to the second round against Kuwait, where the Filipinos were beaten 5–1 on aggregate, losing both matches.

On March 11, 2012, the Philippines recorded its first win in the AFC Challenge Cup by defeating previous champions India 2–0 and followed by another victory in March 13, which they won 2–1 against Tajikistan, thus qualifying for the semifinals for the first time. However, on March 16, 2012, the team suffered a 2–1 defeat against Turkmenistan in their semifinals match.[29] The Philippines made up for their semifinals loss to Turkmenistan by beating Palestine 4–3 to win third place.[30]

On November 30, 2012, the team made it to the semifinals of the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup. The Rizal Memorial Stadium hosted its first Suzuki Cup match, a 0–0 draw against Singapore; Singapore won the semifinals by winning the return leg in Singapore, 1–0.

In the 2014 AFF Championship, the Philippines defeated Indonesia for the first time since the 1934 Far Eastern Games.[31] This win and an earlier win against Laos propelled the Philippines to a third consecutive semifinal appearance despite losing to group stage host Vietnam on their third match.[32] The Philippines faced Thailand in the two-legged semifinal, coming up with a goalless draw against their opponents at home in Manila but losing the away match at Bangkok.[33]

Under new coach Thomas Dooley, the Philippines defeated Bahrain in their first match of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying.[34] They then won their first-ever World Cup qualifier away from home, a 2-0 victory over Yemen in Doha, Qatar. The country also achieved its highest FIFA Ranking anew following back-to-back wins in the qualifiers.[35]

In March 2008, the PFF signed a three-year, ₱9-million contract with Mizuno to become the official outfitter and equipment supplier of the national team, as well as becoming a major partner in its grassroots development programs.[39][40]

On June 4, 2012, the PFF signed a three-year, estimated ₱18.5-million agreement with Puma to become the official kit, training, & equipment sponsor of the national team. In Q3 2013, they released the official long term home and away kits in association with Cougar Athletic Trends, with designs said to be comparable to that of Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Uruguay and other nations that use Puma as their kit designers. The kits utilized the lightweight, top of the line, PUMA Cell fabric technology. The 3 stars, representing the 3 major island groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao were incorporated at the inner collar area.[41]

On 2015, the PFF signed a deal with local kit supplier, LGR Sportswear. In June 3, 2015, a new set of kits made by LGR were unveiled to the public which will be used by the national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The home and away kits were white and blue respectively. Filipino weave design and the three stars and the sun are present at the back of the home and away kits. The goalkeeper's kit is black and has a yellow trim on the chest area and a weave pattern with the three stars and the sun and azkals logo incorporated in the design,in front around the shoulder area. Adidas was also announced as the footwear sponsor of the team for the qualifiers[42]

The traditional home kit is similar to the France national team; blue jersey, white shorts, and red socks.[43] However, in recent times, the home and away kit has either been all-blue, all-red or all-white. Currently the home kit's main color is white, while the away kit is blue.[44]

Under the official FIFA Trigramme the team's name is abbreviated as PHI; this acronym is used by FIFA, the AFC and the AFF to identify the team in official competitions.[45] The team is also identified under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) country code for the Philippines as PHL.[46] However the team was more commonly known as the RP, the acronym for the country's official name, Republika ng Pilipinas,[45] which the local press used when they referred to the team as the "RP Booters"[47] or the "RP XI".[48] This was until late October 2010 when the Department of Foreign Affairs decided to change the official abbreviation of the country from "RP" to "PH" or "PHL", to be in line with ISO standards.[49] The local press have since referred to the team as either "PH/PHL Booters"[50][51] or "PH/PHL XI".[52][53]

The national team is referred to as the "Azkals".[54] The name was coined when an online Philippine football community proposed the nickname Calle Azul (Spanish for Streets of Blue, referring to the color of their kit) which was modified to Azul Calle, shortened to AzCal, and finally became Azkal – a word that is similar to Filipino term Askal meaning street dog.[55] “Azkals” became a trending topic on Twitter during the semifinals of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup.[56]

They are also known as the "Tri–Stars" which is derived from the three stars on the Philippine flag, although this nickname is not frequently used.[57]

During the early years of the Philippine national team, they played their home matches at the Manila Carnival Grounds. By 1934 it became the site of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.[58] One of the facilities within the complex is the 12,000 capacity national stadium, known as the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium or simply the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Since its opening, it has been the home venue of the Philippine national team until May 2015 where they declared the 25,000 seater and world class Philippine Sports Stadium in Santa Maria, Bulacan as their new home.

The RMSC has also become a hub for track and field. The continued use for athletics along with poor maintenance has deteriorated the stadium and the 1991 Southeast Asian Games was the last time it was used for international football matches. In early 2009, the Philippine Sports Commission planned to transform it to a modern football stadium which would make it usable by the national team for international matches.[59]

Since 1992, the Olympic team has been drawn from a squad with a maximum of three players over 23 years of age, and the achievements of this team are not generally regarded as part of the national team's records, nor are the statistics credited to the players' international records.

After the inception of the AFC Challenge Cup, new changes in AFC Competition rules were made. Countries categorized as "emerging nations" which include the Philippines, do not enter Asian Cup qualification starting with the 2011 edition. Therefore, failure to qualify and failure to win the Challenge Cup automatically results in failure to qualify for the Asian Cup.[72]

The AFC Challenge Cup was organized as a route for nations classified as "emerging or "developing" as a sole route to qualify for the Asian Cup. The Philippines is among these nations[70][71] and participated at the inaugural 2006 AFC Challenge Cup. After a qualification phase was introduced the Philippines failed to qualify for the next two succeeding editions in 2008 and 2010. The Philippines qualified for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup where the finished third.[73]Phil Younghusband was the Golden Boot winner of the edition scoring six goals in the final tournament.[74] The team reached the finals of 2014 edition of the tournament settling for second place after losing to Palestine in the finals.[75] The AFC Challenge Cup tournament was dissolved after the 2014 edition.[71]

Out of the ten football tournaments held in 10 editions of the Far Eastern Games, The Philippines only won inaugural 1913 edition[76] despite fielding American, Spanish and British players violating tournament rules. The team was nevertheless named champions.[77] China was awarded champions of the nine other editions of the tournaments.[76] At the 1917 Far Eastern Games, the Philippines recorded its biggest victory in an international match to date, which was the 15-2 win against Japan. FC Barcelona player, Paulino Alcántara was part of the national squad.[3]

The Philippines participated at numerous minor friendly tournaments. Aside from other national teams, the Philippine nationals also faced selection teams and club sides from other nations at some of these tournaments. The team made a podium finish, placing not below third place, at the Japanese Empire-sanctioned East Asian Games in 1940, the Long Teng Cup (2010, 2011) held in Taiwan, and all three editions of the Philippine Peace Cup (2012, 2013 and 2014) hosted by the home country.

One of the earlier coaches of the national team was Dionisio Calvo. Foreign coaches of American, Argentinean, English, German, Scottish and Spanish nationality has managed the national team. Juan Cutillas has managed the team in at least four non-consecutive tenures (1969–78, 1981–1984, 1996–00 and 2008–09).

^"Azkals look to end sorry Thai record". AFF Suzuki Cup (ASEAN Football Federation). December 2, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2015. The Azkals had lost all of their five matches against Indonesia prior to this year’s tournament including a 13-1 drubbing in Jakarta in 2002 which remains the competition’s highest-ever scoreline.

^Japa, Raffy (March 26, 1987). "Elizalde to the resuce". Manila Standard. p. 8. Retrieved April 29, 2015. Alberto Honasan has been designate coach of the team

^"Fegidero uses old magic on Malaysia". Bacolod: Manila Standard Today. May 13, 1993. Retrieved March 26, 2015. "We lack serious games which can only be attained in overseas tournament", said head coach Mariano Araneta